"BUY TWO GET ONE FREE"*

This post is a little over due...our entire blog is a lot over due. We've been experiencing some technical difficulties, but Tyler has promised me,they will be resolved soon.

On Wednesday the 27th of January, at 9:09pm, we welcomed little Wallace Morley into our family. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 ounces, 19 3/4 inches long (and since this is the point were everyone always asks--Mack was 10 lbs 20 inches and Henry was 7lbs 9 ounces 21 inches).  So far I'd describe Wallace's personality as very sweet. He loves to be soothed and cuddled by his Mommy and Daddy. Tyler stayed up with Wallace his first (and only) night at the hospital holding him and Wallace has not forgotten it. Unless he's hungry, Daddy is his favorite. I'm not saying he never gets upset, but when he does, Wallace hasn't been too hard to calm down. He has brown hair (YEAH!) like his Mommy and SUPER LONG fingers and feet like his Daddy. He has not-so-little earlobes and dark navy eyes. Mack fell in love with Wallace instantly and told Granny he'd like "Three more Wallaces." Henry wasn't so easily won over and didn't want much to do with me or the new baby at first but has slowly warmed up to the idea of having someone else around and will randomly ask to hold his little brother. Mack and Hank both love to bring little toys over to show Wallace and give him lots of kisses on his head. Mack says it best, "I'm glad baby Wallace is in our family." 

As far as labor and deliveries go, this was probably my best so far. Labor was about 15 hours from when we check into the hospital to Wallace's arrival. I was a little a lot impatient most of the day, since I'd hoped things would move along a little quicker for the third time around (my labors have gotten progressively longer: 12 hours with Mack and 13 hours with Hank). I only had to push for about 10 minutes before we were greeted my our wailing little BOY. I had to wait another 35 minutes for the placenta (I know, too much information), which was weird, considering I hadn't even really noticed it with my other boys' births, but in the end all was well.

Tyler and I are still adjusting to life with 3 little ones. Thank goodness for all our family that live so close. We never expected to get so much help, not to mention all the food! We haven't been in our ward very long but people have been so generous with the meals, and they've all been delicious. We owe some people big time. My mom especially has been a big-big help with Mack and Hank. I don't know what I would do without her here, probably lose my mind and cut off all my hair.

All Photo credit must go to my sister, we haven't gotten the pics off of our own camera yet, so these from just before we took Wallace home will have to do. They look great! Thanks Kassey!

*Thanks to Tyler for this memorable quote, spoken just minutes after Wallace's birth. Love you!

Therapy

Today, Hank's speech therapist came for her first real visit. She's been here twice before, but they weren't teaching sessions. The first visit was to evaluate his abilities, and see if he is eligible for early intervention. Hank's communication skills are currently at about a 13-15 month level (he's currently 22 months old). The therapist's 2nd visit was to make a "game plan" with me and Tyler. We talked about different times of day and activities that frustrate Henry and made clear goals for what we'd like him to be doing in about 6 months.
I've found the whole therapy process to be pretty stressful. Finding time to meet with the therapist is hard, and when I admit that it's not easy, I feel like a 'bad mom' who isn't putting her kids needs first. Plus, I love/ hate the visits. I'm glad that we're getting Henry the help he needs. I'm glad when there is a game plan and I can see Henry making progress. I love seeing Henry learn new things and he seems to enjoy the therapy. I hate being reminded of what he's not doing yet, and going over and over what he can't do. Also, the boys seem to know when the therapist is coming and make the BIGGEST MESSES! This morning Mack decided to "pretend to make oatmeal" while I was still sleeping. Translation: He filled both sides of the sink with oatmeal and water. Last time the therapist came, Hank threw a big cup of milk on the floor as she knocked on the door. Milk on the table, milk on the floor, milk on the chairs, milk on the lamp, milk on the wall. Not exactly calming, or the image I'd like to project to a stranger coming into my house to "evaluate" us.
 One of the things I really like about his speech therapy is that it is realistic. I hate it can't stand it when people tell me, "That's how boys are" or "This kid I know didn't talk at all until he was 2" or "I think he talks great" or "He just said....." or "I understand him great" or "Kids don't need therapy til they're in school".  I know people mean well, but I I think they're wrong. I'm his MOM. I know what he can or cannot do, and I know what he needs. He needs this therapy. The goals we set with this therapist are for SIX months from now. That's May, and it feels like forever, but it's much more realistic than saying he's just going to wake up tomorrow and start jabbering.
Anyway, back to today's visit... It went well. Henry made some new sounds, and I learned some more ways to encourage him to keep trying other new consonant sounds. He was happy the whole time and seemed to really like the therapist. He signed "me" and appeared engaged. Hank doesn't really make many consonant sounds and therefore has a really limited vocabulary.  I learned a few ways to put some added emphasis on the where in my mouth particular sounds are coming from. I also realized I need to make specific time to work on different sounds with Henry and not just squeeze it into our regular playtime. Play-dough seems to work well for this because it keeps him sitting in one place and happy.
I'm sorta looking forward to next week's session.

Remlinger Farm

We went. We ate lunch. We had fun.
I'm not sure what else to say, it was great. The boys had a blast.  Mack and Hank are at a great age to take places. Mack doesn't mind waiting in line and is so grateful for everything. If you want to do something nice and then be told what a great person you are for doing it, he's your man. I bought him some socks for Church a couple days ago and he couldn't thank me enough. Hank is great because he'll do just about anything with big goofy smile on his face, all while wearing a train conductors hat. He still wears diapers but doesn't need them changed constantly. He'll eat almost anything, so I don't need to bring special stuff for him while we're out, and he loves following around his big brother.  I know soon we'll have another little person with us, who won't be of such an easy going nature. I'm going to have to find benches to sit and nurse on and change a diaper every 2 hours like clockwork. I'm going to get puked on and the boys are going to feel a  little neglected sometimes. Of course there will be lots of good things too, like all the extra snuggles AND I'm of the persuasion that babies are just great overall no matter what. But just two boys right now is pretty great too.

On our Way

Riding the Horses

On the Train

Baby for Now...

A Roll in the Hay

NYC

What would you do with one day in New York City?
?????

Hair Cut

A little while ago (I'm really bad with dates lately), Mack got another hair cut. I only cut his hair about every 6 months so it's really big deal around here (Oh, I remember now, we did it the 2nd or 3rd weekend of September!). The plan was to give both boys hair cuts, Mack first and then Hank. Henry's 1st haircut was when he was pretty young--I buzzed his head really short--and it didn't go really well. The plan was that Hank would see how well Mack did and then be okay with it. Well, the batteries on our camera died before we could start Henry's hair, so he's still waiting for his trim. But here are some before and after pictures of Mack...